Division Of World In Ideological Camps
In the Second World War, division of the
world into two armed camps followed more or
less same pattern as for the First World War.
Only a few states such as Italy, Japan, Turkey,
and Romania switched their sides Germany, Italy
and Japan (Known as the Axis Powers) were
joined by Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Albania,
Finland and Thailand. The Allied armed camp
mainly consisted of Britain, France, Soviet Union,
Belgium, Denmark, Turkey and the United States.
But more important was the ideological camp
formations.
After the World War 1, liberal democracies
re-established their control over the Central
European Empires, helped by reformist,
compromising socialist leaders in many cases.
However, using ultra-nationalist slogans, induced
by economic problems, Fascist and right-wing
dictatorships soon gave a stimulus to establish a
powerful right-wing armed front in countries like
Italy, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Spain
and Japan. These dictatorships arose especially
in countries that lacked traditions of democratic
institutions. The central doctrine of these
variegated dictatorships was the supremacy of
state as opposed to the liberal democratic ideal.
Benito Mussolini established a Fascist regime
in Italy in October 1921 when dissatisfaction with
parliamentary democracy was high, and the
peace settlement was unpopular for having
brought only limited gains. Italy’s territorial
ambitions in southeastern Europe were opposed
by France, an uncompromising upholder of the
Treaty settlement, and Italy’s bit to augment its
north African colonies by occupying Ethiopia in
1935 antagonized Britain as well as created a
crisis in the League of Nations, which was
unwilling to enforce meaningful sanctions against
Italy under Article 16. Mussolini had come to
admire the more efficient Adolf Hitler and signed
a pact with him to create a ‘Berlin-Rome Axis’ in
1936. Their fist collaboration was to assist
militarily General Francisco Franco in
overthrowing a newly formed and fragile
Republic in Spain governed by a left-oriented
coalition called the Popular Front.
The spectrum of politics had created three
major hands in the 19th century-left, centre
(liberal democratic) and right (counterrevolutionary).
The War put the squeeze on
ideological space (hegemonic space) available
within a state. It tended to homogenize citizens,
within territorially organized states, at least in
their attitudes towards war and national defence
and in demonizing enemy states. The left
spectrum of this divide was mainly inspired by
socialist ideology. Similarly liberal democratic
parties represented the centrist politics of
promoting industrial capitalism in their respective
countries.
Britain, France, America, the main allies in
both wars, had well-established liberal democratic
traditions. Germany, Austria, Italy, Japan,
Hungary lacked such democratic traditions.
Although Japan and Italy helped the Allies in
the First World War, both left them during interwar
period itself and with their dictatorial,
authoritarian regimes found their natural allies
(the Central Powers) during World War II.
The Russian autocracy under the Romanovs
supported western democracies owing to
economic compulsions as 25% of investments
from abroad came from France (1914) and
Russian banking, railway development and the
Southern Russian Industrial Complex all
depended on French capital.
During World War II, ideological compulsions
again compelled Communist Soviet Union to ally
itself with western liberal democracies against
the danger of extreme right-wing dictatorships
despite inter-war recriminations. The Ottoman
Empire supported the Central Powers during
World War I; however, a democratically reformed
Turkey joined the Allies in the Second World War.
German Constitution of 1871 entrusted
formal sovereignty to a Federal Council
(Bundesrat) whose members were nominated by
the executives of member-states. It also
established a Reichstag or Parliament of 400
deputies elected by a direct, secret, adult male
suffrage. However, there was complete lack of
parliamentary responsibility in this system as the
Imperial Chancellor, appointed by the emperor,
and enjoying enormous powers, was not
accountable to the Reichstag. The German empire,
therefore, emerged as a hybrid of Prussian
military hegemony and imperial federation,
combining modern franchise with ancient
monarchical authority. The Emperor retained
control over the three pillars of absolutism in the
dominant Prussian state, the army, the
bureaucracy and the foreign affairs. Similarly,
the Habsburg monarchy of Austria-Hungary and
the Ottoman Empire were also dominated by
medieval social institutions and military methods.
During the Second World War, liberal
democracies of Britain, France and USA, etc. and
Communist Soviet Union allied together to wipe
out right-wing dictatorships. The outcome in 1945
left the two contending armed camps (Western
democratic camp and Communist camp),
antithetical to each other, reviling each other,
but both with the same end in view, that of,
global domination.
Japanese Aspirations
Japan’s modernization drive since the late
19th century led it to graft what it considered
the best of America, Britain, and Germany on to
its own homogenous and disciplined society, to
alliance with Britain in 1902, a victory against
Russia in 1904, the annexation of Korea in 1910,
and a self-image of being the leader of Asia.
Though it received the Shantung province of
China (formerly controlled by Germany) in 1919,
Japan’s other ’21 demands’ were not met at
Versailles.
Japanese officials felt that they did not receive
equal treatment in the Naval Disarmament
Conferences of 1922 and 1927, or in the Council
of the League of Nations. Japan’s assertiveness
was externally expressed in expanding its
commercial and industrial reach into Western
markets, the Manchurian province of northern
China, through Southeast Asia, and to the
western Pacific basin where it rivaled the US.
Internally, Japan’s civilian and parliamentary
government came under increasing strain,
especially as economic depression deepened, and
soon passed under the control of a militaristic
clique of army and naval officers. Japan
announced its withdrawal from the League in
1933 and joined an Anti-Comintern Pact with
Germany and Italy in November 1937.
